From left, Raichell Hobley presents gala proceeds to Dillard Interim President Dr. James Lyons. With them are Mattie Hobley and Dillard Athletic Director Kiki Baker Barnes.

This was the fourth year the event has been held to raise money for students at Dillard University, where Billy Ray Hobley attended and coached basketball. The event also recognizes local community leaders.

Hobley, who died in 2002, was a legendary members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball entertainment team. With amazing feats and basketball skills, he stunned the world, but he was most impressive with his work off the basketball court as a community volunteer and philanthropist.

Mattie Hobley, who lives in Kenner and is also a Dillard graduate, said the gala has “ been pretty successful, and this year it’s been even more successful.”

The 2012 gala raised $12,901 and has netted almost $50,000 since it began in 2009.

During the celebration, the Legacy Award is presented to former athletes making a difference in the community. This year, the gala recognized alumni William Sutton, an educational pioneer, and Herman Williams, a former NCAA coach, as recipients.

“They are tremendous,” Mattie Hobley said. “Both of these gentleman have done so much.”

Highlights also included a scholarship presentation, music by Real Love Entertainment, dinner, drinks, dancing and camaraderie.

Raichelle Hobley, the Hobleys’ daughter, assists with the annual project.

She also is working to resurrect the A.S.K. Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by her father. The foundation’s name — “Ask questions. Seek answers. Know truth.” — was inspired by the Bible. Billy Ray Hobley formed the organization to empower children though community outreach programs such as basketball camps and mentoring. As executive director of the foundation, Raichelle Hobley plans to reinstitute the sports academy, afterschool program and summer camps.

“She has a really diverse board and some great people helping her,” Mattie Hobley said. “She will be able to do this well because she is just like her dad. She really cares about kids.”

The foundation started in 1986 in California, Raichelle Hobley said: “It was mainly a drug awareness program. He (Billy Ray Hobley) used basketball fundamentals as a way to get kids off the street, healthy and to say no to drugs.”

After the program’s success in California, Mattie Hobley decided to continue the work here.

“We went to basketball camps as kids,” Raichelle Hobley said of herself and her brother, Billy Ray Hobley Jr. “I ended up being a coach and my dad’s assistant. It was a great thing he was really proud of.”

The foundation has special memories for Raichelle Hobley.

“When I was little, he would take me to school and say, ‘I am setting up this foundation for you.’ I’m leaving this for you to continue our family legacy,” she said. “As a teenager I thought, ‘OK, Dad — sure.’ Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would want to pursue a nonprofit career or that I would do what he said I would do: take over the foundation and take it to the next level.”

As an adult, she grew to appreciate her father’s hard work.

“It’s a labor of love. We were very, very close. He was away a lot, and when he was home he was always on the go,” she said.

“Now I realize what he had been doing the whole time. Everywhere I go, to the post office, everybody knows Billy Ray Hobley. I feel like a lot of people who knew him were waiting for the foundation to come back. It is really, really exciting. This is the time to bring the foundation back and help with the kids, to be a positive influence. I am overwhelmed with excitement.”

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For information about the foundation, visit www.facebook.com/askbillyrayhobley or check Twitter @ASKBillyHobley. For information on the gala or to donate to the Billy Ray Hobley Scholarship Fund, call Dillard University’s Athletics Department at 504.816.4953.